Hold Me Tight
by BigDestiny
Summary: A new Warbler isn't much of a temptation for Blaine.  But little do he and Kurt know that Sebastian isn't content to just be friends.  And he's not above using deception to get himself into Blaine's pants.
1. Oblivious

Well, I'm back. Haven't written anything in a while (for some reason, writing these last few months has been like swimming against a current). And while I do pretty much know what's happening in the next Starverse story, I was in a Kurt and Blaine mood.

I see I'm not the only one that felt like playing with evil Sebastian. For those of you who don't know, Sebastian is a new character coming onto the show and he's going to be bad (very cute, though). Everything else you read here is just speculation, though. I have no spoilers as to what's going to happen when he starts.

Hold Me Tight - by Big Destiny

Part One: Oblivious

Despite the amount of time it took for Blaine to get to Dalton Academy, when he arrived he found that he was still pretty angry about the fight he'd just had with Kurt. He didn't get it. Initially Kurt had been quite happy that Blaine was spending time with the Warblers. But Kurt had been growing more and more agitated as time went on. Until finally today, when Kurt had broken down and they had gotten to what was really bothering him.

Apparently, the problem was Sebastian, the new lead singer of the Warblers. He was pretty good, despite being only a freshman. He certainly had the talent and the attitude to be a real star. But his youth and inexperience had cost the Warblers dearly, earning them a crippling defeat at Sectionals.

Luckily for Sebastian, the Warblers had decided not to ditch him completely. They contacted Blaine and asked him to privately tutor Sebastian in the art of showmanship. He'd agreed, and apparently Kurt had spent the last few weeks quietly dreading it. Sebastian was gay too, and as forward as Santana was (rumor had it that Sebastian had slept his way through most Dalton's gay population, and a little of it's straight population too), and Kurt was convinced that Sebastian was just using these informal mentoring sessions as an opportunity to break them up.

Blaine had been, frankly, insulted by the charge. Yes, his track record prior to getting together with Kurt had been awful. Jeremiah, Rachel. But he'd been the perfect boyfriend since then. And it hurt that Kurt didn't trust him at all. Kurt had tried to explain that it wasn't about trust, it was about respect and the lack of it he was getting from Sebastian. Blaine had no idea what that meant, and had left in a huff.

Blaine put his head in his hands. He'd had a headache all day, and this fight had left him with his stomach in knots. He briefly considered cancelling, but didn't want to admit that Kurt had gotten to him.

Blaine got out of his car and smoothed the wrinkles out of his shirt. It was one he wore when he went to Dalton, and he thought it was a nice compromise between his old uniform and his new civilians. He hurried to the Warbler's practice lounge, finding himself unexpectedly winded by the time he got there.

As he walked through the door he found the now usual group of unfamiliar faces. Sebastian was one of the few he recognized and moved to sit with him. Kurt had told Blaine that the new Warbler was attractive, but honestly Blaine hadn't really noticed. Sebastian slid closer (just to keep their conversation private, Blaine was sure it was not for any other reason). "Hey, stud. You're looking a little rattled today. You all right?"

"I'm fine," Blaine insisted. It was nice of Sebastian to sit with, and try to befriend Blaine. But Blaine was not wanting to get into it. Despite the argument, Blaine loved Kurt and wouldn't bare their personal issues with a complete stranger.

Sebastian might have said more but the Warbler council made their entrance just there, the familiar faces of Jeff and Nick among them. Nick, now the head of the council, called the meeting to order. "Blaine, I'd like to thank you again for your efforts in training a next generation of Warblers. If you can give Junior Warbler Sebastian the same kind of showmanship you had when you were here, it'll give us a much better shot at Nationals next year."

"I'm happy to do it," Blaine insisted. "I still really feel bad about abandoning you guys at the beginning of the year."

Sebastian put a hand on Blaine's shoulder and gave him a warm smile. "Don't worry about it. You're here now."

Jeff scowled briefly at Sebastian (now what the hell was THAT about?) before turning his attention to Blaine with his own smile. "We completely understand. What you and Kurt have is really special, and I don't blame you for picking him over us."

Nick turned to Jeff with a bemused smile. "You're such a Klaine shipper," he muttered.

Sebastian stood, offering a hand to help Blaine up. "Well, let's show them what you've taught me."

Blaine found that he actually DID need Sebastian's help up. He realized how young Sebastian looked, and privately lamented that he already felt old.

The Warblers burst into a rousing version of the Black Eyed Peas song I Gotta Feeling, and Blaine was delighted to see they were making progress. Sebastian's singing had been technically perfect when they'd started practicing, but he was rather the opposite of Blaine: warm and engaging in person, but completely oblivious when on stage. That was all gone now, Sebastian was pulling Blaine into his performance with a wide smile and real showmanship.

Blaine on the other hand was struggling. The routine exhausted him, and it was taking all his focus to just get the steps right. One wrong foot, and Blaine found himself on his knees on the floor. Before anyone could get near him though, he stumbled over to nearest wastebasket and threw his lunch up into it.

Blaine started shaking, and now Sebastian, Nick, and Jeff were on the floor next to him. "You okay, Blaine," Sebastian asked him.

"I don't think so," Blaine admitted.

Jeff put a hand on Blaine's forehead, pulling it away almost instantly and wiping it on his hand. "You're all clammy and you're burning up. Did you get a flu shot this year?"

Blaine was embarrassed, but he didn't know if anyone could see him blush over the fever. "I forgot. McKinley doesn't even have a school nurse."

Nick shook his head and chuckled. "Well, if you can put off your trip back into the wilderness for a few minutes, you should see ours. She'll be happy to see you again, even if you are sick as a dog."

"I can take him," Sebastian volunteered. He helped Blaine to his feet and steered him out the door.

Blaine's brain was getting more and more foggy with each step. In the back of his head he recognized that he wasn't headed towards the school infirmary, but he couldn't really focus anymore. "Such an idiot," he muttered.

"Who is?"

"Me. Fight with Kurt was all my fault," Blaine stated gloomily.

"You had a fight with Kurt?" Sebastian asked brightly. "What was it about?"

"You-" Blaine winced as he realized how that sounded. "No, me. Kurt has ev'ry reason not to trust me. Such a flake. Wouldn't have lost my temper if I hadn't been sick."

"Well, there's your out. I'm sure once he finds out you're sick, Ms. Fancypants will let everything slide."

Blaine went to shove Sebastian, half annoyed and half jokingly. All he ended up doing was completely almost falling down. "Cut it out." He winced at the suddenly bright light as Sebastian led him out into the parking lot. "Where-?"

"Oh, you don't really need a nurse," Sebastian assured him.

Blaine was confused. "No? But Nick-" Hadn't Nick said something about the infirmary? He couldn't remember.

"How's your neck?" Sebastian asked seriously.

Even if Blaine hadn't been feverish he might have had a hard time following that. "S'Fine. Chest is really starting to hurt tho."

"Then you don't have meningitis, at least," Sebastian declared. "You'll be fine. You just need a little rest."

Blaine's vision was starting to grey, and he couldn't imagine how he was getting home in this condition. "Don't think I should be driving like this…."

"No problem," Sebastian told him. "I don't live far from here. You can crash on my couch for an hour, and I'm sure you'll be able to make it home after that."

"Don't know-" Didn't want to worry Kurt.

"It's not an inconvenience, trust me," Sebastian assured him. "Come on."

Blaine didn't say yes. But then he didn't say no, either.

* * *

><p>Kurt was trying not to sulk. That was working to some extent.<p>

Kurt was trying not to feel guilty. That was an abysmal failure.

Saying that Blaine had reacted badly to Kurt's suspicions (were they even suspicions though, or just insecurities?) was an understatement. They'd both gotten angry, and once again Kurt had said something he didn't really believe because Blaine had gotten him flustered. Kurt flushed, unable to believe the last thing he'd said to Blaine was a dig at him trying to act older than he was. He thought he was over having mistaken an overconfident sophomore for a legitimately confident Junior. It certainly wasn't Blaine's fault that the Warblers referred to anyone not on the council as a 'Junior Warbler'.

Kurt went on-line again, hoping that Blaine might have left a message there that he hadn't on Kurt's phone. Unfortunately, it seemed that Blaine hadn't been on Facebook, MySpace, Tumblr, or Twitter, either. Probably still in 'rehearsals', Kurt grumbled.

No. Because there was a tweet from Nick, 'Sux that BlaineWarbler went home sick'.

Kurt felt really guilty, now. Bad enough that he was pushing his paranoia onto Blaine, he'd been so wrapped up in his own worries that he apparently hadn't even noticed his boyfriend was ailing.

He grabbed his phone, and set a new record dialing. Kurt wasn't surprised to hear it go to voice mail. Even if Blaine wasn't mad at him, he was probably feeling to lousy to pick it up. So he left a message, and a text message that basically said the same thing. "I'm really sorry I got on your case today. Especially now that I know you're sick. Call me, please."

* * *

><p>"…I love you." Sebastian's face twisted into a dubious smirk as he listened to Kurt's message. He didn't believe in love, he believed in sex. And his faith had always been proven correct. Everyone Sebastian had gone after had gladly fallen into his bed, no matter what they said their hearts wanted. Up until this point, at least. So it galled him that Blaine, handsome as he was, was so oblivious and fawning over this Kurt guy to get with the program.<p>

He heard a muffled groan and some movement from his bedroom. Blaine had finally woken up apparently. Sebastian crept up to his bed to see Blaine awake, but still out of it. "Thought you were going to wake me up in half an hour," Blaine grumbled.

"It's only been about ten minutes," Sebastian lied.

Blaine looked over at the window, and there clearly wasn't any light coming from behind the curtains. "S'dark," Blaine noted, confused.

"I live on the north side of my building," Sebastian countered. "It's always dark in here. I told you that."

"Right…. right… sorry…." Blaine muttered, even though Sebastian had told him no such thing. Sebastian was a little worried by that at first, but Blaine was soon asleep again. Sebastian thought about it, and decided that he could work with this. 'Sexy nurse' was SUCH a hetero cliché, but things usually became cliché because they worked.

Sebastian was mentally wondering if he had any scrubs to go with those tight white shorts that showed off the bottom of his ass cheeks, when he realized that Kurt had also left a text message. He had to snort quietly at the care and concern in it. This guy wasn't for real, was he? This was clearly just sweet words to keep Blaine hanging off him.

Sebastian got a really mean idea. So mean, that for a moment he thought it might be too much. Blaine would never forgive him for it. Of course, Blaine was likely to be feeling better the next time he woke up, and it would give Sebastian a chance to make a move on him. Blaine wouldn't find out about Sebastian's prank until after they slept together. And by that point, if Blaine wanted to choose his affronted boyfriend over another go around, that was his loss.

Sebastian looked over at Blaine, asleep in Sebastian's bed. Blaine's shirt had gotten untucked, exposing a thin strip of Blaine's firm stomach. Raised abs and obliques trailed tantalizingly down under Blaine's pants.

Sebastian looked back down at Blaine's phone and hit reply.

* * *

><p>Kurt had had dinner, done his homework, and just finished his nightly skin care regimen when he finally heard the beep that indicated he had a response to his text. He wasn't surprised that it had taken that long, though that thought had done little to make him feel better.<p>

He picked up his phone and was already planning a romantic evening to make things up to Blaine (next week of course, when Blaine could be a little more… demonstrative in his forgiveness) when he read what the text said.

Kurt's heart stopped.

'Mr. Hummel,' the text stated. 'This is Blaine's father. It seems that what we took for just Blaine having the flu was actually the beginning stages of a ruptured brain aneurysm. I don't know how to say this except to just say it. Blaine is dead. I'm aware of your… friendship with my son and that you must be quite upset. But with everything Blaine's mother and I are going through, you must understand your presence here or at the funeral would not be helpful. It would be best if you mourned with your friends and don't try to contact us again.'

This was a joke. It had to be. But Kurt couldn't imagine who would do something like this. For a brief moment he guessed Sebastian was doing this, but Sebastian didn't have access to Blaine's phone.

-He would if Blaine were-

Kurt pushed that thought away. It didn't matter how unlikely it was, someone had be playing a prank because Blaine was NOT DEAD.

Kurt ran to his computer, revisiting all the sites he'd checked that afternoon for signs of Blaine. Again nothing. As panic set in, Kurt tried to remember if he had Blaine's parents number, intending to call them despite the text warning. But if he had it, he couldn't remember. He'd only met them once, and it hadn't been cordial.

-And Mr. Anderson had talked just like the text sounded.-

"No, no, no!" Kurt whimpered to himself. "This is crazy. He couldn't- I'd-" Except that Kurt didn't believe he could feel Blaine, didn't believe in that kind of superstitious romanticism.

He believed in logic.

Logic said that no one that didn't love Blaine could get a hold of his cell phone.

Logic said that no one that loved Blaine would send him this kind of text.

Unless it was true.

"Oh god," Kurt moan.

His stopped heart shattered.

Someone was bawling "No," over and over again. But it wasn't until Finn came running into Kurt's room, worried as all get-out, that Kurt realized he himself was the one sobbing.

"Kurt?" Finn gasped warily. "Dude, what's wrong."

Kurt screamed, angrily. Blaine was dead, and Kurt couldn't take Finn calling him 'dude' like nothing was wrong. He half threw his phone, half hit Finn in the head with it. Finn proved he wasn't as stupid as people sometimes thought by grabbing the phone and checking it out, correctly assuming that something on the phone had upset Kurt.

Finn just about dropped the phone when he read what was on it. And then Kurt was surrounded by cheap scratchy Acrylic. Finn's arms (in a sweater Rachel had given him), and Finn was shouting now. "Burt! Mom!"

Kurt wasn't listening, just dissolved into tears. Because Blaine was dead, and nothing mattered any more.

(to be continued)


	2. The Longest Night

Did I mention before that I don't own Glee? I don't. Even if it was legal to own Chris and Darren, I probably couldn't afford them.

So many 'favorite story' and 'story alert' notifications. Nice to see people are enjoying the story. And an especially big thanks to Just a Dumb Human Like You, fightsilence, and FizzyDrops for your reviews.

FizzyDrops, I'm glad you like Sebastian, it was important for me that he didn't come off as being totally evil since this story doesn't end when Kurt finds Blaine and I have more planned for him. He just doesn't get that his text hurt someone. And as you can see from this chapter, he REALLY hasn't thought this thing out.

* * *

><p>Hold Me Tight - Chapter two<p>

Blaine couldn't remember if he was dreaming, or if he'd actually woken up in the night. All he was sure of was that he was alone, and he hated it.

At one time, he was used to being alone when he was sick. While his parents weren't exactly abusive, once they'd decided he was old enough to not need a babysitter the only consideration they gave him was regarding the fact that he wasn't dating 'a suitable girl'. So unless Blaine was literally dying, his parents would typically leave him to his own devices out of concern for themselves catching whatever it was that he had.

But that was before Kurt. It had been a revelation when barely two weeks after he started dating Kurt, he'd ended up catching a cold. Rather than being shunned like he'd expected, Kurt had dropped everything to tend to his new boyfriend. And not only was Kurt doting on him, Kurt's stepmother Carole had insisted that he spend most of his evenings at the Hummel/Hudson house so she could look after him as well. Blaine had had food poisoning once and been sunburned twice since then, and he was starting to rely on the emotional support far more than the physical help Kurt and his family were providing.

Now he was alone again. His fatigued mind thought that there was supposed to be someone else here, but he was frankly relieved that there wasn't. He didn't want some phantom presence that he was far too tired to deal with. He wanted Kurt. This oppressive loneliness made him feel even worse, and was sapping what little mature stoicism he had at this hour.

Blaine closed his eyes, trying to listen past the bed he was in. Tried to remember where he was. But it was quiet outside. A residential neighborhood, presumably. It sounded like home, and like Kurt's bedroom when it got late. Blaine clung to that feeling. He wrapped himself tightly in the blankets around him, trying to pretend that this unfamiliar bed was Kurt's (despite the substandard bedding) and that he'd just fallen asleep somewhere where someone loved him.

It was almost enough to keep him from crying while he drifted back into oblivion.

* * *

><p>Kurt wasn't asleep, despite the hour. Finn wasn't sure if Kurt would ever fall asleep again.<p>

Thankfully, Burt and his mom hadn't been convinced by the text. Finn didn't want to believe it either, especially that Blaine's dad could be such a douche to Kurt, but it was comforting to have actual grown-ups confirming his suspicions. They were both downstairs now, hoping to contact someone that might be able to get a hold of Blaine's parents and find out what was going on.

Though Burt had admitted that they might not be able to get the number until morning.

This was going to be a long night if that was true.

Kurt was sitting on the edge of his bed, quietly shaking. He'd stopped crying for the most part, and had shrugged off Finn's last two attempts at comforting him. Finn made another try, hoping that the third time really WAS the charm.

It wasn't. Clearly people needed to stop saying that.

Kurt stood up, whirling to face Finn. Pain and rage contorting his face. "God DAMN it, Finn! Don't FUCKING touch me!"

"I was-"

"I don't care!" Kurt shrieked. "You're not Blaine! Don't FUCKING hold me like you can make things one IOTA better!"

Finn winced, feeling guilty that he'd apparently made Kurt feel worse. "I'm sorry. I'm just trying to help."

"Then go on-line," Kurt suggested angrily. "Find the Anderson's phone number. Find someone who knows them. Find ANYTHING, just DON'T TOUCH ME!"

Kurt curled up in a ball on his bed, and Finn could hear that he was crying again. Finn felt worse than he did after the lamp incident, and turned to Kurt's laptop, intent on following orders.

Finn wasn't having much luck and was about to give up, disgusted with himself, when a small voice called out from the bed. "I'm sorry, Finn. I know you're trying to help."

Finn turned back to his brother. Kurt was sitting on the edge of the bed again, but was now looking directly at Finn. With an intensity that Finn could barely stand. Kurt wasn't crying anymore, but his eyes were red and his face was blotchy. It seemed like an hour without Blaine had undone almost eighteen years worth of skin care. Finn tried to smile comfortingly. "I get it. Just remember this the next time I'm freaking out about Rachel and it turns out to be nothing."

The red blotches on Kurt's face and around his eyes became even more pronounced as his skin paled further. "What if it's not nothing, Finn?"

Finn didn't know what to say to that. It was totally not fair for this to happen to Kurt, not after losing his mom and nearly losing his dad. But Finn knew Kurt wouldn't buy that as a reason to believe he'd be spared this. Honestly, the idea of Blaine being dead made Finn feel sick; he couldn't imagine how Kurt was feeling. "I don't know," Finn admitted. "But for right now, I'm not even going to think about it until your dad says it's time to think about it."

Kurt smiled weakly. "Your faith in my dad is touching, Finn."

Tears started streaming down Kurt's face again, and he lowered his head to hide them.

It seemed, even to Finn, that time may have died along with Blaine. It was a few minutes, or maybe a few hours later before Burt and Carole re-entered the room, and it wasn't with any news. "There's no one at McKinley or Dalton at this time of night," Carole announced anxiously. "I checked with the PTA but Blaine's parents haven't joined yet."

"They probably won't," Finn grumbled. He hadn't met Blaine's parents, but what he'd heard about how uninvolved they were had seriously pissed him off.

"They may not have to, now," Kurt noted, his voice dull and strained.

"Kurt, it's too soon to be-" Burt began.

"-Jumping to conclusions, I know," Kurt interrupted, sounding unconvinced. "What did Mr. Schue say?"

Burt frowned, unhappy. "He and Ms. Pillsbury are going to call some of the other teachers. But they said they weren't going to be able to contact your principal tonight. He's got some family thing or something. So they may not be able to get the number until the school opens tomorrow."

It was like a perfect storm of not being able to reach anyone. Finn briefly wondered what kind of family thing could be so important that Kurt might be stuck without any news until morning. And there was more bad news. "I can't find their number on-line," Finn admitted. "I think it must be unlisted, everyone else I tried worked. They even gave exact directions right to our house."

Carole and Burt both frowned at that, but there was no time to worry about it. Kurt seemed to crumple in on himself and started shaking again. "Then it's over."

"Just for tonight," Carole promised. "I know it's hard, but you need to try to get some sleep."

Kurt's head snapped up, but fortunately (or unfortunately, Finn had no idea) he was too grief stricken to be angry. "How am I supposed to sleep? I can't NOT think about it. I feel like my brain's never going to shut off ever again. And all I'll ever think about is how DEAD Blaine is."

And just like that, Kurt was sobbing again. This time he accepted a tight hug from both Carole and Burt. With all their options for the night exhausted, Finn pulled out his cell phone. Kurt had been going through some rocky times with both Rachel and Mercedes, but Finn didn't hesitate to text them. 'Emergency. Kurt needs u at the house. Come quick.'

Despite what had happened, both girls texted back 'on my way' within five minutes. Finn knelt on the floor in front of Kurt, his only way of talking face to face with his brother right now. "Hey, I just found out both Mercedes and Rachel are dropping everything to be here for you."

Kurt couldn't quite smile at that point, but he did look grateful. "With some prodding from you, I'm guessing."

"I got your back," Finn promised solemnly. "No matter what happens."

* * *

><p>Sebastian knew he should be getting back to his 'patient', but the house DJ was proving to be too much of a temptation.<p>

He wasn't sure what it was about nursing that was supposed to be so hot, but clearly he hadn't encountered it so far. Blaine had been sleeping when Sebastian slipped out to a nearby club, just like he had been almost non-stop since taking up residence in Sebastian's bed. Blaine had turned into a sweaty, whimpering mess and it was SO not sexy.

Okay, one more hour and he had to get back to his apartment. Grab some shut eye, and maybe Blaine would be so grateful for being taken care of in his time of need that he'd be up to a little payback.

But an hour had stretched into an hour and a half. And when strong arms slid around his waist from behind, he wasn't thinking about Blaine anymore.

"Hey, cutie. What's happening?" Sebastian still had a youthful look to him, but he was seriously grateful to be so tall for his age. Even guys ten years older than him, like this guy here, were fooled into believing he was legal.

It helped that when a guy met him in a bar, it was assumed that the guys at the door had already confirmed Sebastian was legal. Gotta love an impressive fake ID.

"Trying to get a few minutes of fun in before trudging back to my sick… roommate," Sebastian sighed. The whole thing was starting to look like a bad idea.

Especially since the mystery guy wasn't letting go. "I can think of a couple of things we could do to have some fun. But it'll take more than a few minutes."

Sebastian turned in the guy's embrace. The guy was totally hot. Cute face. Tight body showing through a muscle shirt that was WAY too small. Plus he looked like he was about to burst out of his jeans, and Sebastian didn't mean the waist or knees.

Sebastian leaned forward and stuck his tongue in the guy's mouth. After a few minutes, he pulled back with a contented sigh. It's not like Blaine would be waking up any time soon. "Your place, then."

* * *

><p>Mercedes and Rachel arrived inside of half an hour. And it was an indication of just how serious things were, that they weren't even glaring at each other when Carole opened the door to let them in. For now anyways, their worlds had both narrowed down to Kurt, and how to get him through the next six hours.<p>

What Kurt hadn't realized until that moment was just how hard it would be to entertain them.

They were really trying, coming up with mash-ups and duets to keep Kurt occupied. But finally he couldn't take it anymore. "I really appreciate what you're doing," he told them. "And if this turns out to be nothing, then I'm really grateful that you're doing this."

They both placed a hand on his. The girls had changed into their Pjs as soon as they arrived, telegraphing their intent to be there for the duration of the crisis. "There's no where else we'd want to be right now," Mercedes insisted.

"Thank you," Kurt told them as he inhaled sharply. Tried not to dissolve into tears again. "But if- If Blaine is really… gone…. I don't want to forget about him. Not even for one night."

The effort of keeping himself together left him shaking again. It only got worse when Mercedes and Rachel wrapped their arms around him. It gave him enough strength to pull himself together, but as with Finn it didn't really help.

When they finally pulled back, Rachel's eyes were filled with tears. "Okay, then," she stated. "If you want to talk about Blaine, I think it's time I told you about my date with him.

Kurt flopped back onto his bed, wishing he could die and be with Blaine. Rachel just didn't know when to quit. Usually it was a little endearing, but now? "Please, Rachel. I really can't take this right now."

Mercedes was giving Rachel a hard stare, but Rachel as usual ignored it. "This is good, I promise. I've never told anyone this before, but the whole time we were out all he talked about was you."

Kurt's breath caught in his throat, and he sat up so fast his head started to spin a little. "Really?"

"Absolutely. And not even totally about how much you hurt him, or how bad he felt for hurting you. He was constantly seeing things you'd love. Or that you'd hate, or that you'd just find so weird. And every time he did, he'd go into this story explaining why you felt that way."

It was just so sweet, Kurt's heart felt like it was going to shatter again. "He- He didn't say anything about that."

Mercedes had gone from being annoyed at Rachel, to smiling bitter sweetly. "Probably didn't even realize he was doing it. That boy had it bad for you long before he figured it out."

Kurt had thought that too. But then he thought about all the time they'd missed out on. And he was coming apart again. "It hurts so much."

"I know," Mercedes murmured as she held him again. "But we're going to be with you, and we're going to get you through this."

"I don't want to get through this," Kurt told her. "I want Blaine. And a part of me is actually happy that this hurts so much. It's going to kill me, and I can't bring myself to care."

Rachel was staring at him, solemnly. "I'm sorry, Kurt. But this isn't going to kill you. I know you, and you're stronger than that."

Kurt glared at her. "How-" Except how could he ask her how that was going to make him feel better. Because he knew nothing would. And asking her to try was just POINTLESS.

Kurt fell back on the bed. He'd never do anything like kill himself. He couldn't do that to his dad. But he really wanted to just let go. Close his eyes and go looking for Blaine.

He thought he heard something at the window.

A songbird, despite the fact that there shouldn't be any out at this time of the night.

It sounded like Pavarotti, so maybe it was just in his head.

His eyes opened, and he remembered. The Warblers.

It was almost one-thirty in the morning, and Kurt knew it was too late to try and get a hold of anyone.

…quarter after one and I'm all alone….

…and I need you now.

Kurt sat up and grabbed his phone off his nightstand. Ignoring the girls' questions, he hit the button to dial Nick's number and held his breath.

It rang a few times, but Nick picked up before it went to voicemail. He sounded groggy, but legitimately happy to hear from Kurt. "Hey. I was going to call you before. How's Blaine doing?"

Kurt winced, belatedly realizing how hard it was going to be to actually have to tell someone. "I don't know," he admitted. "I got a text a couple of hours ago. Blaine- The text said Blaine died."

There was a stunned silence at the other end. Not unexpected, as was the subsequent denial. "Kurt. No, that's crazy. Who told you that?"

"It was Blaine's phone. He said he was Blaine's dad…."

"No, Kurt," Nick reiterated. But it sounded much more certain than the last time. "That's not possible. I talked to his parents around 9. They hadn't seen him. They were actually kind of mad, because he left them a text saying he was with you."

Kurt almost dropped the phone. The text was a lie? But if that was true, then where the hell was Blaine? And who was sending all these texts from his phone?

Nick was still talking, and Kurt tried to pick back up what Nick was saying. "…calmed down a little after I explained that he was sick. I guess they'd rather you caught it."

Just as he'd told Carole, Kurt's brain hadn't shut down this whole time. It was whirling again with speculation and after a few seconds he remembered something. "Nick, did Blaine leave by himself?"

"No, he was with-" Nick stopped in mid-sentence, the silence leaving no clue if he was thinking or trying not to speak.

"Who was he with?" Kurt insisted, though he suspected he already knew the answer.

"Sebastian volunteered to take him to the school nurse. I don't know if they actually got there."

Kurt's mind went red with fury, obliterating any semblance of his earlier grief. "Nick, I know it's late, but I need to know where Sebastian lives. Now."

"I can't access the Dalton records on-line," Nick told him. "Can you meet me in the parking lot there in a couple of hours?"

"I'll be there." Kurt hung up without the niceties of a goodbye. He hoped that Nick understood.

The first thing he saw when he looked up was that the worried faces of Rachel and Mercedes had been joined by his dad, Carole, and Finn. "What's going on?" Carole asked.

"I'm going to Westerville," Kurt replied as he moved to his dressing table. But he'd only gotten a few seconds into his morning routine when he threw down his exfoliating pad impatiently. "Fuck it." He jumped up and started looking through his clothes.

"Kurt, you're in no condition to drive three hours in the middle of the night," Burt reminded him.

"I don't care," Kurt told him. "Bad enough when I thought Blaine might be dead, but now he might be missing and I can't just stay here." He selected an outfit in record time and headed for the bathroom to change.

"I'll drive," Finn volunteered. "Just give me a minute to get dressed."

"A minute," Kurt allowed. He didn't want to snap at Finn any more tonight, but it was important Finn understood how quickly Kurt needed to get out of there. "Any more than that and I leave without you." Finn practically sprinted to his room.

"Kurt, what are you going to do if you run into that Sebastian guy," Rachel asked worriedly. "He's likely to still be there this time of night."

Kurt turned at the door, the feral rage on his face something none of them had ever seen before. "I plan on being grateful," Kurt answered. "Because I am REALLY looking forward to seeing him."

(to be continued)


	3. Daybreak

More Reviews and notices. Thanks so much to everyone for their interest. SilverWhiteDragon, as you can see Sebastian is in a lot of trouble now though it won't be of a legal nature. Just a Dumb Human Like You, I'm glad I got to be your first shout out. Lillybean, TenTen93 glad to have you both on board. BreathexFreely, I'm too much of a Klaine!shipper (and shipper of Kurt/happiness) to join a Blaine/Sebastian group but thank you for your invitation. I'm glad that Sebastian is coming off as well rounded, and hope you don't mind too much what Kurt does to him in this chapter.

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><p>Chapter 3-Daybreak<p>

Blaine woke up feeling awful, but not nearly as confused as he'd been earlier. He looked around the room, noting that Sebastian wasn't there and there was light coming from behind the curtains drawn over the window. Maybe he HAD only been there for half an hour. Was it possible that all his confused thoughts were nothing more than a fever dream?

He tried to sit up, but was too exhausted to manage it even on a second try. Damn, he needed to get home before anyone started to worry.

Blaine's already uneasy stomach dropped as he suddenly remembered what had transpired before he came to Dalton. Kurt might very well be still angry with him. And given the fact that Blaine was currently lying in Sebastian's bed (no matter how innocently he'd gotten there), maybe Kurt had a reason for being upset. Sebastian certainly seemed to have taken advantage of the situation by making sure HE was the one tending to Blaine.

Blaine shook his head, unwilling to deal with the possibility that Sebastian was undermining Blaine's relationship with Kurt. Not when he still felt so awful. First things first: call Kurt and get the hell home. It took more effort than Blaine would have considered possible to roll off the bed and slide onto the floor. It was cold, and Blaine realized how chilly he was. But he wasn't about to go back to Sebastian's bed.

Despite the fact that he was only missing his shoes right now, his phone was for some reason lying on the floor a few feet from the bed. Blaine crawled across the floor, wishing heartily that he could be at home right now. This was starting to seem like a really bad idea.

His aching bones and pounding head were in complete agreement with him.

Finally, the phone. Blaine turned it on, and his eyes widened when he saw the screen. 5 am. He'd been there almost twelve hours.

Fuck, Kurt must be freaking out by now. Blaine went to connect with Kurt's number, pausing to realize that somehow he'd already texted Kurt. Blaine paled further, realizing that it must have been Sebastian who'd done it. He hoped that Sebastian hadn't done something bitchy, like text Kurt that Blaine was sleeping in Sebastian's bed with no further explanation. He was in enough trouble already.

Blaine stopped breathing when he realized it was much worse than that.

Sebastian had told Kurt he was dead? Why would he do that? It seemed crazy, and Blaine was starting to growing more and more uncomfortable with the idea of being in the bedroom of a boy he hardly knew. He still couldn't drive in his condition and wasn't really sure where he was.

Blaine looked down at his phone. He hit dial as he repeated over and over in his head, like a mantra.

Gotta call Kurt.

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><p>Kurt had been waiting far longer than he had been expecting, and the sun was starting to rise above the horizon. There seemed to be nothing to do but wait.<p>

Finn was staring at Kurt, and Kurt could tell from his brother's expression that Finn was a little freaked out. Kurt understood that, he'd caught a glimpse of himself in the side mirror and recognized that not even HE had seen himself like this. There was no sign of fatigue on his face, despite completely jettisoning his skin care routine. His focus had narrowed to the point where only one goal remained. Let New York go to hell, let him never get out of this fucking state. None of that mattered as long as he got Blaine back.

Nick was knocking on the window of Kurt's SUV. Kurt turned to look at him, and from the way Nick uneasily (and unconsciously) took a step back, Kurt suspected that he still looked like he had when he'd last looked in the mirror.

Kurt and Finn got out of the SUV, and Nick took another step back. It was clear he didn't have good news. "What went wrong?" Kurt asked.

"I'm sorry," Nick told him, truly distressed. "I checked the Warbler and Dalton records. The only address we have is his parents' place. I texted the other Warblers to see who could give us directions to the place he has off campus-"

"What?" Finn exclaimed. "He's like fifteen years old. How is he living by himself?"

"I don't know," Nick admitted tiredly. "I've mentioned it a couple of times, and I got nowhere. I wonder if maybe that's why he's so interested in Blaine. Maybe his parents don't care about him either."

"Then they're in good company," Kurt snapped. "How long ago did you text them?"

"Fifteen minutes?" Nick estimated. "I wanted to give them a chance to call before I came out to give you the bad news."

"Call them again," Finn requested. "I know it's early-"

"Believe me, they won't mind," Nick assured him, grimly. "Once they find out about this, Sebastian will be lucky to spend the next four years in the background swaying and humming."

Kurt's phone rang. Since he almost never got telemarketers on his cell and assuming this was one of the Warblers calling to assist, he dispensed with his usual greeting and went with a simple "Tell me where he is."

There was a pause, and then a quiet, familiar voice that broke Kurt's heart anew. "Kurt? Kurt, it's me."

Kurt's eyes filled with tears and he needed a moment to compose himself. "Blaine? Blaine where are you?"

"I'm at Sebastian's apartment," Blaine admitted. "I swear, I didn't want to come here. I'm just- I'm really not feeling very good."

"That's okay, baby," Kurt told him. "Look, we're having a hard time finding Sebastian's address. You need to tell me where you are."

"I'm not sure," Blaine replied, shakily. "I was kind of out of it. I mean, I'd have to be to let him drive my car. I- I don't know where I am."

Blaine sounded like he was on the verge of losing it, and Kurt couldn't say he was surprised. "It might take us some time to find someone who knows the way-"

"Kurt please," Blaine begged. "I want to go home."

"I'm coming, Blaine," Kurt promised. "I need you to do something for me, though. Is there a window there? I need you to get to the window."

As sick as Blaine sounded, Kurt recognized that it would take a few minutes to get to the window. But when he did, Blaine exclaimed anxiously. "Oh, god. Kurt, there are bars on the windows."

"That's okay," Kurt assured him. "That's okay, Blaine. That's not for you. He probably has those to make sure no one can break in." At least Kurt assumed that was the case, as there was no way Sebastian could have known Blaine would be sick. And if he'd preemptively put bars on his windows just in case a situation came up, Blaine could be in real danger.

"You're sure?" Blaine sounded confused, possibly becoming delirious again.

"Yes. I need you to look out the window and tell me what you see. What does the building look like?"

Another pause, and Blaine replied, thankfully sounding more put together. "Uh- It's an older building. Red brick. They've got those metal fire escapes outside like in movies about New York."

"That'll help," Kurt replied encouragingly. "Are you at the front or the back of the building."

"The back. There's a box store across the alley. Or maybe it's a warehouse."

That probably narrowed it down to the new development on the edge of old Westerville. Kurt told Finn what he'd guessed, and the three piled into the SUV. Kurt atypically in the back seat. "We're on our way," Kurt told Blaine. "It shouldn't be too-"

"Oh my god," Blaine yelped. Kurt jumped, briefly worried, but it seemed like good news. "Kurt, I can see a logo on one of the doors across the street. It's Target. The one that went up last spring that you said was the fifth Horseman of the Apocalypse."

"Yes!" He repeated Blaine's revelation, and Nick relayed the directions to Finn who made a hard right turn. "We're almost there baby," Kurt assured Blaine.

"Kurt, I don't think Sebastian's here. I know it's early, but I can't hear anything coming from outside the bedroom."

"That's too bad, because I was really looking forward to beating the crap out of him," Kurt noted, purposefully being playful. It worked, because Blaine chuckled quietly.

He sounded so tired and alone. And scared; Kurt was filled with a new anger that Sebastian had done this. It was probably for the best the little punk had wandered off.

"THERE!" Finn shouted. He turned down an alley and sure enough, there was a red brick building with fire escape ladders trailing down the side.

"Blaine, we're here," Kurt stated, as he unbuckled and reached behind the seat. "Open the window if you can."

Blaine clearly managed to get it open, because as Kurt stepped out of the SUV he heard Blaine's thin voice calling out. "Kurt, I'm up here."

It was the most beautiful sound Kurt had ever heard.

"We'll have to go around to the front and see if anyone will let us in," Nick noted.

"Don't bother," Kurt growled as he sprinted for the nearest fire escape ladder. It was only then that Nick and Finn realized what Kurt had in his hand.

A tire iron.

The fire escape ladders retracted when not in use, but Kurt was Cheerio trained. He damned well was getting up there. Not losing hope even after he'd made two tries without success.

The third time he almost made it, fingertips just grazing the metal. He landed hard on the ground and that same hand's knuckles scraped hard on the pavement.

Kurt went deep into himself, drawing out the old training. 'I swear if you don't make that jump, I'm going to have you deported to the first third world that needs a gay Howdy Doody puppet,' Coach Sylvester had said to him once in practice.

He made the fourth jump.

"Kurt!" Blaine exclaimed as his boyfriend scrambled up the fire escape. Blaine sounded tired, and he looked even worse. "I can't get the grating off the window. It's locked, and I can't find the key anywhere."

Kurt ran up successive flights of stairs until he finally reached the window at which Blaine was waiting for him. There were still bars in the way, but this was the first time he'd seen Blaine since he'd gotten the text saying Blaine was dead. And this definitely placed high on the list of greatest moments in his life. "Are you okay?" Kurt asked as he reached through the bars to take Blaine's hand.

"I think so. Kurt, I'm so happy to see you."

Kurt almost started crying again. "Believe me, the feeling's completely mutual. When I thought you were dead-"

Blaine grabbed Kurt's other hand through the bars and put it on Blaine's own heart. Kurt could feel it beating, scared but strong. And he knew that everything would be okay. That he'd MAKE everything okay. "I know. And I'm so sorry, Kurt. But I'm here now. I love you so much."

"I love you, too," Kurt told him. "I need you to step back a second while I get you out of there."

"The bars," Blaine reminded as he stepped back.

But Kurt pulled out the tire iron, and put the pry end against the lock. Kurt's blood was swimming in adrenaline, and he had more than enough to force the lock open. He jumped into Sebastian's bedroom, pulling Blaine into a tight hug. "I told you, I'm never saying goodbye to you."

"You were right," Blaine admitted, guilt-ridden. "I shouldn't have trusted him."

"Hey," Kurt replied soothingly. "I didn't predict this, either. And I hated the guy long before you did."

Blaine nodded, too exhausted to disagree. "Take me home, Kurt."

"Hospital first," Kurt told him. "I want them to check you out to make sure you're okay."

"Kurt, he's here!" Finn's voice, followed shortly by an angry Sebastian entering the bedroom, an angry Nick right behind him and then a worried Finn.

"What the hell?" Sebastian shouted. "Look what you did to my window!"

Kurt was in no mood to deal with this self-indulgent gripping. "Look what you did to my boyfriend!" he roared. "He's got a fever, he could have DIED!"

"He was fine," Sebastian snapped. "I know you're pissed at me over my prank, but you're totally over reacting."

"Over reacting?" Finn repeated, shocked. "Dude, what you did was wrong. You're like the worst person I've ever met."

Sebastian glared at him for that, but Kurt had had enough. "Nick. Finn. Get Blaine down to my car."

As Nick and Finn moved to help Blaine downstairs, Sebastian turned to Blaine. "Sorry I got you in trouble with the missus. Maybe next time?"

Blaine flinched anxiously, and didn't answer as Nick and Finn helped him out.

Kurt started for the door, but then turned around again. "Oh, and one more thing. If I may..."

Kurt grabbed Sebastian's arm and SLAMMED Sebastian's face into the wall. "Stay. Away. From Blaine." Kurt intoned viciously. "I'm not going to tell you a second time."

Kurt literally shoved Sebastian onto the floor. And strode out of the apartment with all the grace and presence of Kate Middleton herself.

* * *

><p>Blaine had pleaded with Kurt that he wanted to get out of Westerville ASAP, and flat out refused to go to the hospital there. Only after Kurt reminded him how upset everyone would be if he died a second time did Blaine agree to go. But only as an out-patient, there was no way he was staying there overnight.<p>

Which resulted in Kurt's first ambulance ride, escorting Blaine back to a hospital in Lima. In retrospect it seemed silly, since by the time they arrived in Lima Blaine was almost stabilized enough to be discharged.

Blaine's dad was waiting there to meet them, and was understandably shocked by Blaine's story. Mr. Anderson turned to Kurt and noted, "It seems you're a good man to have around in a crisis situation."

Mr. Anderson went to get the discharge papers shortly afterwards, leaving a gaping Blaine to marvel. "Am I delusional again, or did my dad just compliment you? Maybe there's hope for him after all."

Kurt thought that it was too soon to tell, but decided not to mention it.

Finn, who had dropped Nick off back at Dalton, arrived as the Andersons were getting ready to go. "Nick said he would drop in on Blaine tomorrow with Jeff and a couple other Warblers who aren't Sebastian."

Kurt chuckled at Finn's phrasing. "You actually asked, didn't you?"

"Like the saying goes, there's no stupid questions. Just stupid people," Finn reminded him smugly.

No doubt Finn thought that everyone was laughing because they were impressed by his intelligence and wit.

It was like a physical wound for Kurt when it finally came time for Blaine to go home. Both he and Blaine were crying and apologizing for everything they had ever said or done to hurt the other. They might have remained there for hours if Finn hadn't rolled his eyes at the maudlin proceedings. "Geez, it's like you guys think you aren't ever going to see each other again. This has been a huge win for you guys. Enjoy it!"

The boys broke apart, laughing and wiping their eyes. "Your brother is a very wise man," Blaine chuckled.

"The last thing I thought anybody would ever tell me," Kurt admitted. "But sometimes it's true."

One last, intense kiss, and they were headed home. Kurt was mostly silent (and exhausted!) on the ride home, only asking Finn "Did you see how Mr. Anderson reacted when Blaine and I kissed. I didn't think about it until it was too late."

"He looked fine to me," Finn replied. "Honestly, I wasn't really paying attention. I, ah, I kind of like seeing you and Blaine happy. Not like I'm perving, I just-"

"I know what you mean," Kurt replied with a tired smile.

It almost seemed anticlimactic walking through the front door. Kurt smelled breakfast in the kitchen, like always. It suddenly occurred to him that he hadn't called anyone to update them on what happened. But before he could say anything, Finn correctly guessed what was making Kurt look so worried and stated, "I called my mom before I headed to the hospital to pick you up. I'm sure everyone knows now."

"Thanks, Finn." Kurt didn't know what he would have done without Finn the last few hours.

When they walked into the kitchen Burt and Carole both looked up from their preparations. "There's our heroes!" Carole exclaimed. "Sit down, breakfast is almost ready."

Everything looked delicious, and a little fancier than they usually had it. But Kurt's first move was towards the coffee pot. School was in only a few hours, and he'd need a LOT of caffeine in order to get through the day.

Surprisingly though, Burt grabbed the coffee pot and yanked it our of reach. "Uh-uh. That's for the two of us that actually got some sleep last night. I called Schuester to let him know that Blaine was okay, and he agreed with me that there wasn't anything happening today that you two couldn't miss out on. So once you're finished breakfast, you're both headed upstairs to bed. No arguments."

Finn, who was about to bite down on a bagel, froze just before he bit down. "Wait. I get to be a hero, AND miss out on school? SCORE!"

Kurt had always been proud of his attendance record. When you'd been bullied as much as he was, it was too easy to stay home. Let 'I don't feel up to going today' become 'I don't feel up to going this week' until you were never going. So it took a lot to get him to skip. But after the night he'd had, he could do nothing but agree with Finn yet again.

* * *

><p>When Blaine got home, he got another surprise from his dad, who stated "I've asked Mrs. Gunderson next door to look in on you while your mom and I are at work."<p>

"You don't have to do that," Blaine insisted. "I'm fine."

"And I intend to make sure you stay fine. Mrs. Gunderson is going to be home all day, and said she wouldn't mind."

Blaine sighed. It was nice to know his father cared, but it was a little awkward. "I feel stupid enough already."

"A fourteen year old boy just tried to kidnap you," Mr. Anderson noted, with expected puzzlement but without the expected disappointment. "You handled it about as well as you could, given it's not something you could anticipate."

"I would have thought you'd be the first one to find my performance lacking," Blaine told him, with a little bitterness. "Especially compared to Kurt."

"Your friend- boyfriend," Mr. Anderson amended, "didn't have a dangerously high fever."

"No. And he was amazing," Blaine stated.

"He was. Blaine, I know you don't like that we aren't closer. And I know it's my fault." Blaine's dad sighed heavily. "I don't know how to deal with... this. I don't do tea parties and Project Runway like Kurt's dad. But I love you. And I'm really glad you're alright."

Blaine was actually touched by his dad's admission. "I love you too, dad."

Mr. Anderson cleared his throat, a bit embarrassed. "Well, let's get you up to bed. As soon as you're well enough, we need to decide what we need to do next to deal with that insane boy."

Blaine headed upstairs with his dad, but he wasn't at all compliant. "Dad, I don't know if we should be pressing charges. He didn't actually stop me from leaving. And if we go to the police, Kurt might get in trouble for threatening him."

"I really don't think that would stand up in court."

Blaine sighed.

Mr. Anderson sighed back. "I'll talk to legal at work about what our best options would be. Can you at least think about it? Who knows when we'll have another opportunity to do something together."

Well that was certainly tempting. Especially since it would be something they would do together that didn't require Blaine to miraculously become straight. "That sounds fair. Thanks, dad."

(to be continued)


	4. Consequences

More great reviews, and story favoriting. I want to thank everyone again for their interest in this story, it's an interesting experience writing a multi-chapter fic that doesn't have the characters in imminent danger at the end of the chapter. It's almost been like writing the show, except for the music and the fact that Kurt and Blaine's scene in this chapter is far more ...intimate than we'll probably see on the show. I decided to up the rating, just to be on the safe side.

I'm going to make more of an effort to remember my scene breaks. If I forget, just let me know.

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><p>Hold Me Tight – Chapter Four: Consequences<p>

"That's when we found out exactly where we were going. I was totally speeding, but we didn't know what was going on with Blaine and he could have really been in danger. So I just CRANK the wheel around and the tires squeal, but we end up headed the right way." Finn and Kurt had gone to school the next day, and Finn had been retelling the story of their adventure all day. Of course, the beginning of Glee practice was the first time he'd had all their friends in one place, and Finn was giving them the full low-down.

Actually, he was giving them the low-down and then some, as far as Kurt was concerned. "I'm the first one to see the creepy old building the guy's holding Blaine in," Finn exclaimed. "And I shout 'THERE IT IS!'"

Complete with an overly dramatic finger point that would have gone straight through Kurt's windshield if Finn had actually made it.

Rachel didn't seem to mind the embellishments though, curling even tighter into Finn's side. "You're so brave, Finn."

"You haven't heard anything, yet," Finn assured her. "We get out, and Blaine is at the window, BEHIND BARS! And he's begging, 'Oh, Kurt! SAVE ME!"

Kurt winced. While Blaine wouldn't be clear for school until the next day, and wasn't allowed to do any strenuous choreography until next week, he had convinced his parents to let him come for the beginning of Glee practice so everyone could see he wasn't dead. Blaine was a little self-conscious about what had happened to him, and Kurt didn't want Finn making fun of him. "Finn, Blaine was hardly quailing in wait to be rescued. We wouldn't have even found him if he hadn't figured out where he was. Tone it down a little."

"And could you please minimize Kurt's assault on a minor when you're telling this story?" Blaine asked, nervously. "Especially if you end up telling it to the police?"

"No problem," Finn replied, not losing his momentum at all. "I got your back. So anyways, the only way up is the fire escape. Kurt's got this tire iron, and he, like, leaps TWENTY FEET into the air. And just NAILS the ladder!"

"Funny how that building grew five feet since he told this story this morning," Quinn chuckled, with a wink to Kurt.

"I'm so glad you made that jump," Brittany cooed. "I didn't want Coach Sylvester to sell you to a third world country."

Blaine looked at Kurt, baffled. "What was that?"

"Neither did I, Brit," Kurt told her, before turning to his boyfriend. "I'll explain later."

Finn didn't seem to have noticed the interruption. "So I spot that Sebastian punk stumbling home. I can't believe he picked up a guy in the middle of trying to seduce Blaine."

"Amateur," Santana scoffed. "I've picked up guys while I was in the middle of having sex with other guys."

"She has," Brittany confirmed. "So has Puck."

"Except those were girls," Puck felt compelled to point out. "And I didn't have to get them delirious beforehand."

"Hey!" Finn exclaimed. "I'm telling a story here."

"We heard," Tina reminded him. "You followed Sebastian inside. Kurt threw him up against the wall 'using the power of his mind', and left the guy crying on the floor."

"Crying and peeing his pants," Finn clarified.

The power of his mind? Where did Finn get this stuff? "I don't remember that happening," Kurt pointed out.

"Oh, I bet he did," Finn insisted. "We were THAT bad-ass."

Blaine agreed, and was leaning in to kiss Kurt when Mr Schue entered the choir room. Kurt sighed when his boyfriend pulled back. Being a hero was so much better than behaving himself.

Mr Schue didn't seem to have noticed, bounding into the room with a huge smile on his face. "It's so great to see all of you here, today. I don't mind telling you guys I was a little worried there for a while. Kurt, Finn, Blaine, it's good to see you guys."

"Thanks Mr Schue," Finn replied.

"Now, we've got booty camp today," Mr Schue told them. "So Blaine, I know you're excused today."

"Actually, Mr Schue," Kurt piped up. "Would it be okay if I skipped out today, as well? I'm not feeling that great."

Mr Schue looked Kurt over, taking in the pallor that Kurt knew was even worse today. "Sure. The rest of you, follow me."

As the group headed off to the stage, Blaine turned to his boyfriend, now seeing the same fatigue Mr Schue had. "You are looking a little tired," Blaine noted. "Are you okay?"

"Not really," Kurt answered with a wan smile. "Don't forget who was making out with you before all this started."

"Oh, right." Blaine blushed, having completely forgotten how contagious he'd have been this week. Then he gave a small smile in return. "Well, since you're going to have your house to yourself for a couple of hours, how about we get you home. And I can take care of YOU for a change."

"I don't want you pushing yourself," Kurt insisted. "How about we take care of each other?"

"That," Blaine enthused, "sounds like a great idea."

* * *

><p>Kurt daintily sniffed the warming balm his boyfriend had purchased before giving a happy sigh. Not because of the cream, which was far too medicinal smelling for his taste. But as always, Blaine could easily talk him into enjoying something nasty if it was with him. "You're a bad influence, Blaine Warbler."<p>

Blaine chuckled at the now inaccurate nickname. "I hope you never stop calling me that," he stated, as he started removing his clothing.

Kurt was going to start stripping as well, but became completely engrossed in Blaine's skin as it became exposed. They'd made love a few time now, but it was still an almost shocking thrill that his boyfriend- his lover- was naked in front of him. "Have I mentioned how much I like seeing you au naturel?"

"As much as I like it too," Blaine admitted grabbed a pair of Kurt's pyjama pants, "I'm not really up to anything too strenuous right now." Blaine put on the comfortable flannel pants, which fit mostly well except for being slightly too long.

Kurt quickly shed the rest of his clothes and slipped into some pyjama pants as well. "I'm not either, honestly," Kurt answered. "I just like being with you like this. It feels... I don't know. Like a sure thing? Like I didn't almost lose you this week."

Blaine sat on the bed behind Kurt and kissed his boyfriend gently on his neck. "I think you're right. The worst thing about being there, being sick. It's a lot worse when you're sick and lonely. Being able to feel all of you like this, it makes everything being over feel more real."

Kurt's joints were sore, and he pulled up Blaine's pant legs and started massaging Blaine's knees on the correct assumption that it would feel good. "This is nice on it's own merits, too."

Blaine put his hands on Kurt's shoulders and started rubbing as well. This was the first Kurt had experienced this kind of warmth since he was a child and it felt so good. Blaine's hands moved down to Kurt's chest and started teasing Kurt's quickly hardening nipples. "It is. Have I mentioned before how grateful I am that every guy you've met up to this point has been completely stupid. And blind to YOUR merits."

"You're silly." Kurt's giggle ended with a moan. It really sucked that they were both sick. Blaine's ministrations were really turning him on, but they both knew that any attempts at sex would end with them exhausted but unsatisfied. "Silly, but with wonderful hands."

Blaine's hands moved down Kurt's torso, revelling in the taut abs that no one but Blaine knew Kurt even had. Blaine's hands reached Kurt's waistband, already pulling away from Kurt's waist. "I know that there's no way we could manage a porn-worthy performance. But I think I can handle a little... handling if you can."

Kurt sucked his breath into a ragged gasp as Blaine's hand slid lower. On account of the balm on his hands, Blaine stayed on top of the pyjama pants. But that did nothing to change the growing sexual tension in the room. Kurt reached behind his back to return the favour. "Oh, Blaine."

"Kurt," Blaine moaned.

"Kurt?" Blaine and Kurt had just enough time to pull their hands away from each other as Burt walked through the still open door. Kurt's dad furrowed his brow at the under dressed boys in front of him. "Finn called and said you went home sick," he announced, trying to stay calm. "What's going on, guys?"

Kurt tried not to show any embarrassment as he subtly pulled a pillow into his lap. "I'm starting to get Blaine's flu, so we decided to get something for it." Blaine helpfully lifted up the jar as he shifted to turn his own arousal away from the door.

"Right. Just wanted to make sure you were okay." Burt looked from Kurt to Blaine, clearly trying to decide whether to believe they were as innocent as they claimed. "Glad to see it's not serious."

"Actually, dad," Kurt noted nervously. "Now that you're here, I know you wanted me to ask your permission before any sleepovers. I was wondering if maybe a little nap before Blaine went home would be okay."

Burt's expression froze as he considered that. As far as Kurt knew, his dad was unaware that Kurt and Blaine had been together but Burt no doubt had some strong suspicions. This would be an interesting test to see if Burt's suspicions were stronger than his faith in Kurt's good sense.

In the end though, faith won out. "I guess that would be okay. As long as Blaine's parents know where he is."

"We'll let them know," Blaine insisted.

"Call, don't text," Burt demanded, not unreasonably given the past few days.

"Yes, sir."

"And don't call me sir," Burt told him, with a small smile on his face. Burt headed back out of the room. "I'll head back to work since you two seem to be managing on your own. Oh, and boys?" Kurt and Blaine turned to look at him again. "Don't forget that stuff's not for internal use."

"Dad!" Kurt squeaked, mortified.

* * *

><p>After he and Blaine had napped and tended to each other (among other things), Blaine headed home feeling human for the first time since his sort-of kidnapping. Which was a good thing, as Blaine came home to find Sebastian waiting for him on his front lawn.<p>

Blaine considered pretending he was someone else and just driving on by, but he decided to not put this off. Getting out of his car, he slammed the door warningly. "What do you want, Sebastian?"

Surprisingly, Sebastian seemed angry for what was probably the first time since Blaine had met him. "My parent's brought me here because I told them I wanted to apologize to you," he noted with a gesture behind him to a couple watching them from a nearby car."

"Okay," Blaine acknowledged. "So why are you really here?"

"Look, I get that my little text was badly received," Sebastian allowed, not sounding sorry at all. "But tell that bitch he needs to back off."

Blaine frowned, puzzled. 'Bitch' clearly referred to Kurt, but he had no idea what Sebastian was talking about. "Kurt will back off when he's good and ready, not before." When Kurt got going, not even the promises of sexy times were enough to get him calmed down. "What is it that he's supposedly done?"

"Child Protective Services tipped off my parents that I wasn't living in the Dalton dorms like they thought," Sebastian told him. "They were a little pissed off at me."

Blaine raised an eyebrow: he hadn't considered that option. "That was probably my dad, not Kurt."

"The call came from the guidance counsellor at his school," Sebastian snapped. "You've been home sick. Who else would she have found out from?"

Blaine couldn't quite restrain a short laugh. "Ms. Pillsbury called them? She's living with our choir director. He was the first person who Kurt called about my disappearance. Sorry, Sebastian," Blaine stated, though he wasn't sorry, either. "You did this to yourself."

"Whatever. You two are the ones that are going to be sorry."

Blaine's blood went from boiling to ice cold. "Did you just threaten my boyfriend?" he asked, darkly. If Sebastian went after Kurt, he was going to be VERY sorry.

"Oh, I'm not going to hurt him," Sebastian scoffed. "But your Glee club should be very worried about what's coming next."

Sebastian stalked off, leaving behind a very confused Blaine.

Sebastian's parents drove off the second his seat belt was buckled. The click reminding him a jail cell closing, representing how little freedom he'd have now.

And for that, he was going to make sure Kurt Hummel paid with his very dreams.

"Thank god that's over," his mother bleated, anxiously. He couldn't really blame her, much as he might have wanted to. They could have actually lost custody of him if things had gone badly. And as much as he decried his lack of freedom, that would have been a thousand times worse for him. "You're going to straighten up now, you hear?"

"Mother, that's so homophobic," Sebastian snapped, sounding upset though he really couldn't care less. As she sputtered, Sebastian added: "I know what I need to do now. Can I call and give him the good news?"

Sebastian's father nodded, giving the boy his phone back for the first time since he'd been yanked from Dalton. The number was still in his incoming call list, and Sebastian hit redial. "Hi, it's me. I just wanted you to know that mom and dad appreciate the offer. And that we've decided to accept."

Jesse St. James smiled on the other side of the phone. "That's great to hear, kiddo. Welcome to Vocal Adrenaline."

(to be continued)


	5. River

Sorry about the delay in the story. I've had this pretty much finished for a while now, but I couldn't let Christmas go by without writing a chapter about it. And I couldn't post a chapter about Christmas at the beginning of November, no matter when the Glee Christmas album came out. Hopefully, you haven't completely forgotten what was going on.

* * *

><p>Hold Me Tight – Chapter Five: River<p>

Two weeks later, it was coming on Christmas. The Christmas tree nursery near Blaine's house was cutting down appropriately sized trees and tiny reindeer were already starting to appear on people's roofs. But despite the songs of joy and peace leaking into Glee practice, it was obvious that there was little peace for Blaine OR Kurt.

Kurt was still having the occasional nightmare about Blaine dying. They didn't speak about them but Blaine always knew when one had happened. Kurt would show up at school, and without a word would give Blaine a bone crushing hug. Blaine would hold Kurt as long as he needed, silently a little grateful because it reminded him Kurt actually did need him.

Blaine was going through an unusual bout of self-doubt after the Sebastian incident. He knew that Kurt loved him, but remembering how weak and gullible he'd been was leaving him frequently wondering WHY Kurt loved him. All he could remember was trembling in fear while Kurt pulled off a rescue Hollywood would be happy to film if it weren't for the whole boy-on-boy sex thing.

So much for Artie, Coach Beiste, and Ms. Pillsbury's claims that Kurt couldn't be macho. When Blaine wasn't feeling inadequate (and was unable to be with the boy himself), Blaine had actually reminisced about the incident until he left his pyjama pants sticky.

Ultimately Blaine decided that if his and Kurt's first Christmas was going to be a success, he would need to take more proactive measures. Which was why he was at the Hummel house now, taking his life in his hands by telling Kurt's father he wanted to take Kurt away for a few days before Christmas.

Actually that wasn't the problem so much as the few NIGHTS he'd be taking Kurt away for.

Burt surprisingly, wasn't breaking out his shot gun though. "Can you go over that again, Blaine? I'm not sure I got everything."

Hardly shocking: Blaine had been in such a rush to get his proposal out (idea- don't even think the word 'proposal' or you won't get to see Kurt until well into mid-century), that he almost sprained his tongue. "Well, Kurt and I have the whole week before Christmas off, and we're probably going to be at loose ends. Kurt's already finished 90 percent of his prep work for the holiday, and with my flu I wasn't able to get a gig at King's Island this Christmas."

"Yeah, Kurt told me," Burt replied. "Sorry to hear that."

"Thank you. The result of all this being that we don't have anywhere to be until Christmas Eve night." Blaine and Kurt had lucked out that the Andersons did everything on Christmas Eve while the Hudson-Hummels didn't get started until it was almost noon Christmas Day. It meant missing out on the Glee club's carolling at Mr Schue and Ms. Pillsbury's place, but it was worth it. "So I was wondering if it would be okay if Kurt and I went away for a couple of days. My uncle has a fishing cabin in Michigan, and he said it would be okay for us to stay there."

Burt stared at Blaine in disbelief. "You're taking Kurt FISHING?"

Blaine chuckled, realizing how that sounded. "No. Even if we wanted to, the lake will be completely frozen over, and I don't know the first thing about ice fishing. But there's a town nearby with a bunch of quaint little shops-"

Burt scoffed again. "That you probably have no real interest in checking out, right?"

Well, now they were coming to the hard part. "Honestly, no. I mean, I'm sure Kurt will want to check them out, and I love shopping with Kurt. But my hope was to spend most of our time in front of a roaring fire, singing cheesy Christmas songs and enjoying each others company."

Burt sat down in his recliner, considering this. "I'm going to ask you a blunt question, and I want you to answer me honestly. You and Kurt. Are you having sex?"

Blaine swallowed hard; he'd been expecting that question. "Yes. For a while now."

"That time I caught you on your sick day?" Burt guessed.

Blaine wanted so badly to say yes, but he really believed he and Kurt were in it for the long haul. And he didn't want to lie to Kurt's father. "Before that," he admitted. "When we were doing 'West Side Story'."

Burt's eyes widened surprised, and Blaine had to suppress an involuntary flinch. "Well, at least I know that you're not planning this trip to seal the deal with him."

Now Blaine was a little insulted. "Mr. Hummel, I'm in love with Kurt. Anything I've done with him has been because we chose to spend more intimate time together, not because I wanted someone to screw me. I definitely wouldn't plan this trip if I thought Kurt might feel obligated to have sex with me if he went."

Burt had started a little when Blaine revealed who was doing what in Blaine and Kurt's relationship. But he kept a steady voice when he responded, "And you know that I'd never agree to this if I thought that."

"Mr. Hummel, I've been dating Kurt for months now," Blaine reminded him. "And my friends at Dalton assure me that we've been an unofficial couple since LAST Christmas, I just didn't know it. I would like to think that you know me well enough to know that my intentions towards Kurt are at the very least honourable."

Burt sighed. "You're right. I know I'm being a little hard on you." Burt stood and went to the window, staring at the lightly falling snow without really seeing it. "This is going against all my instincts as a father, and I want to be absolutely sure of this before I agree to it."

Blaine nodded, calming. "I completely understand. To be frank, the last couple of weeks have been really hard on Kurt and I. That incident with Sebastian has left us both a little insecure. Both in ourselves and in our relationship."

Burt turned back to him, instantly concerned. "I didn't realize there were problems between the two of you."

"There's not," Blaine countered. "Things are really good between me and Kurt. Except for that nagging feeling we both have that even with our best efforts, we still might end up losing each other."

Burt went from being worried, to chuckling ruefully. "You really don't play fair, y'know."

"Is that a yes?" Blaine asked, brightening.

"When will you be bringing him home?" Burt asked. "If I end up agreeing to this, that is."

"My family does Christmas on Christmas Eve," Blaine explained. "I thought we'd head there from the cabin. My parents are actually looking forward to him being there. We'd be staying there overnight and then head here first thing in the morning. Kurt's planning on brunch by 11."

Burt shook his head, amused. "I know. Kurt's already freezing things, and Finn's already complaining about having to get up so early." Burt held his gaze on Blaine for another moment, then nodded. "Okay. You're right that I do trust you. And I know you love Kurt. I'm not crazy about you two having sex, no parent ever is. But it's not about me, and if you and Kurt want to go away for a few days I guess I don't have a problem with it."

* * *

><p>By the time the trip rolled around, Ohio (and Michigan) were both covered in a thick carpet of white. Kurt was driving, insisting that since Blaine had supplied both accommodations and provisions that the least Kurt could do was provide transportation. Blaine's iPod was full of Christmas tunes, including several that had music but none of the words, so they could sing along without having to do it over top of another artist's voice.<p>

Kurt had been delighted by Blaine's plans for a pre-holiday trip, stating that if he wasn't already sleeping with Blaine, this would have put him over the top. There was only one thing more though, that Kurt wanted to go over before they could have a merry Christmas. "Blaine, I think we need to talk about this idea that you aren't worthy of me. As flattering as it is, the crippling self-doubt is starting to worry me."

Blaine started, no doubt surprised that he'd been found out. "It's not crippling," was the first insistence to make it out of Blaine's mouth.

"That's hardly the point, is it?"

"I'm fine," Blaine declared firmly. "Better than you, don't forget." Well, that was mature.

Kurt waved off Blaine's concerns with a lazy hand. "There's nothing wrong with me. A bad dream here and there is hardly a psychosis. And you're deflecting. So enough with the better boyfriend Olympics, okay?"

"Maybe I just need some time," Blaine replied, grumpily.

"Time for what?" Kurt asked. He did his best to make sure he sounded serious, and not just bitchy. "Because my dreams are getting further and further apart. Whereas I think your bouts of inadequacy are getting closer together. I don't fancy waiting for them to become constant, like you're about to give birth to the living embodiment of anxiety."

Blaine had to chuckle at that. "You make it hard to have a serious conversation with remarks like that."

"So then spill," Kurt challenged. "If you're talking, then I'm not."

Blaine considered that. "I know you love me. But... aren't you a little disappointed in me?"

"No," Kurt told him. "Neither is your dad apparently. The only one who's disappointed in you is you."

"I know. I guess I've always known that." Blaine looked out the window, deep in thought. "I remember last Christmas. You were leaning on me- not that I'm not glad things are better now," he added with alarm. "I just-"

"You were my hero?" Kurt guessed.

"Yeah. And I know that friend zoning you like that delayed our relationship much longer than it needed to be delayed. But I LIKED feeling like I had something to offer you. Like we were equals."

"We still ARE equals," Kurt insisted.

"I don't feel like it anymore," Blaine admitted unhappily. "I feel like a stupid kid."

Kurt sighed, both bemused and disturbed. He didn't know how to help that, short of glibly suggesting Blaine screw HIM for a change. But that wasn't likely to ease the situation. "Do you really think I'm going to dump you?"

"We're running out of time, Kurt," Blaine told him. "I know we're both planning on the long distance thing, but I'll be in high school and you won't."

Oh. Now Kurt got it. Kurt impulsively stopped his car on the side of the road. There wasn't much traffic, so they weren't in any danger of being side swiped. "Blaine Anderson, I'm going to let you in on a little secret. You shouldn't have transferred to McKinley."

"What?"

"You weren't bullied by the guys at your old school," Kurt informed him "You were assaulted. Leaving Dalton and going to public school everyday is so brave it's freaking stupid. If you need help remembering why you're my equal, keep that in mind."

Blaine's eyes widened, and sacred-teapot-dwarf-that-doesn't-exist be praised Blaine seemed to finally be getting it. "Okay. As long as you don't mind reminding me of that from time to time. It's a little hard not to worry you'll lose interest once you hit the Big Apple and you're surrounded by incredibly handsome would-be suitors."

Kurt put the car back into gear with a bemused smile. "Now you're just being silly, again."

* * *

><p>Blaine had to admit that it seemed like Kurt's nightmares were, in fact, going away. He didn't have one the first night they spent at the cabin. Nor did he have one the following two nights. It was only the night before Christmas Eve that Kurt had another one.<p>

They were laying in each others arms, sleeping nude the way they had the entire trip. Blaine was unable to sleep, struck as he had been several times this week by how lucky he and Kurt were to have this time together.

But then the peace of the night was broken by a small whimpering noise. At first, it was too quiet for Blaine to realize it was a cry of pain; as it turned out, Kurt's nightmares were vastly outnumbered by erotic dreams about Blaine. But Kurt started thrashing around, sobbing quietly. A single name on his lips.

"Blaine."

Blaine took Kurt in his arms, soothing Kurt's struggling but doing nothing to ease the broken-hearted weeping. "Kurt, wake up please."

At first, it didn't have any effect. But after a few moments Kurt bolted upright with a small yelp. His wide eyes took in the room, rapidly falling on Blaine and calming. Kurt wrapped his arms around Blaine and hugged him tightly. "I like waking up to you," Kurt told him, sounding surprisingly calm given the circumstances. "I could get used to this."

"Are you okay?" Blaine asked.

Kurt pulled back, smiling wryly at the concern on Blaine's face. "Oh my. We're having THAT conversation again, aren't we?"

Blaine tried to smile, but he couldn't quite feel it. "I hate watching you suffer. Especially knowing it's me that's upset you."

"You haven't upset me," Kurt declared firmly. "My brain is just running a little behind. But it gets better, right?"

Blaine smiled, trying to brighten the mood. "It's just... It's our first Christmas as a couple, and I don't want you to be sad for a second of it."

Kurt grinned brightly at that. That unabashed smile that he was so embarrassed about, but told Blaine that Kurt was legitimately happy, not just politely amused. "Well, I'm happy when I'm awake, I assure you."

"Even at times like this?"

"Even then." And Blaine could see Kurt was telling the truth. "You know I don't hug you because I'm sad, don't you?"

"I didn't, actually," Blaine admitted. He wasn't quite sure he believed it.

It seemed to be true, though. "I'm sad in the dreams, yes. But then I wake up, and I know it's not real. That's why I need to hug you so much. Because I'm happy."

Blaine sighed, relieved. He hadn't thought about it like that (and he'd probably have to devote some time later to wondering what about him didn't think that way), and it lifted a weight from his heart. He couldn't do anything about Kurt's dreams, but Kurt had such a beautiful way of looking at them it made Blaine love him even more. "Well if you're right – and you've been right so far – we don't need to worry about another nightmare for a couple of days now."

"Quite right," Kurt told him. They snuggled into each other again, enjoying the feel of bare skin against bare skin, until Kurt caught sight of his phone on the end table. "It's 2 in the morning. Merry Christmas, Blaine. I love you."

Blaine placed a gentle kiss on his lover's lips. "I love you too, Kurt. Merry Christmas."

* * *

><p>The holiday went without any further crises, and Boxing Day found Kurt dodging what seemed like a hundred thousand shoppers while he waited for Blaine to arrive at the mall. Frankly, he would have rather woken up in Blaine's arms this morning and come down here together. But they'd talked about it, and decided that they didn't want to push Burt too fast now that he was finally coming to terms with the fact that they were sleeping together. And although Blaine's parents were coming to accept Kurt, they still looked at him like he was some strange bit of whimsy they couldn't quite understand.<p>

Kurt was actually delighted by the reaction (it was just SO 'Poor Provincial Town' from Beauty and the Beast), but Blaine usually ended up gritting his teeth if it went on for any period of time. So Kurt decided that meeting at the mall was a small price to pay if it meant that his boyfriend made it through high school without needing dentures.

It turned out just as well that Blaine was running late. Kurt wouldn't have wanted Blaine to have been there when he rounded a corner and ran into Jesse St. James. And Sebastian. "Oh my. Jesse, I know you've never heard these words coming out of my mouth. But you can do better."

Jesse laughed. "As much as I appreciate your concern Kurt, my interest in Sebastian is purely professional."

"That's lovely," Kurt purred. "I suppose he has to make ends meet somehow, now that he's left Dalton in disgrace. Tell me: do you leave the money on his nightstand, or do you tuck it directly in his g-string?"

"You seem to know an awful lot about the sex trade industry for someone as supposedly pure as you are," Sebastian chuckled.

"I'm well read."

"I'm sure Blaine is too," Sebastian countered. "He has to have something to occupy his time while you're primping."

Kurt had an amazing comeback to that. But he clamped his mouth shut the second he remembered that Blaine wouldn't appreciate Kurt blurting out just what WAS occupying Blaine's time. Kurt settled for a simple, "I guess you'll never know."

"No he won't," Jesse interjected firmly, though not unkindly. "Sebastian's being a good boy now. I'm guessing you didn't hear. I'm coaching Vocal Adrenaline now, and Sebastian's just what I need to start rebuild my team."

Kurt forced his eyes not to widen. Blaine had told him that Sebastian had threatened New Directions after the whole kidnapping incident went down. But he couldn't have guessed that all his enemies would line up like this.

Not that he was worried. Having them all in one place just made them easier to knock down. "Ah," Kurt cooed. "Reminds me of my triumphant return to McKinley. The Warblers didn't want me to go, of course. But they loved me enough to see me off with a rousing rendition of 'Somewhere Only We Know'. Serenaded me right on the steps at school. I'm sure the song they sung for you was just as touching. What was it?" he asked faux-innocently, knowing full well the Warblers couldn't have seen the back end of Sebastian soon enough.

It was only the second time (after Kurt slammed him into a wall), that Sebastian let his mask slip. It made Kurt smile, so of course, he buried his upset. "Where is your better half, anyway?" Sebastian asked.

"He'll be along soon," Kurt told him. "Excuse me."

* * *

><p>As that damnable Kurt Hummel strode away, Sebastian spun around angrily, almost plowing right into a cute guy he'd had sex with over the summer. Sebastian couldn't quite remember his name, but he remembered the face and the dick. That counted for something, right? "Hey, you," he purred. "Long time no see."<p>

"Sebastian! It's so good to see you! What have you been up to?" The cute blond turned to Jesse. "Did someone finally tame that rogue heart of yours? Hi, I'm Cory. Sebastian and I hung out over the summer."

"I'll bet you did," Jesse quipped. "I'm Jesse St. James, I'm actually Sebastian's boss."

"Oh." Cory (right; the name would have come to Sebastian eventually) flushed anxiously. "Sorry, I didn't mean to assume-"

"Don't worry about it," Jesse assured him.

Sebastian gave Cory a more thorough going over. He really was a stud, and totally charming. And though Sebastian hated to acknowledge it, he and Kurt were physically the same type. Cory's type. This might be just what Sebastian needed. "Jesse, I don't suppose you could give me a few minutes alone to catch up?" he asked hopefully.

"Just stay away from Kurt Hummel," Jesse insisted, playful but firm.

"Believe me, my tongue is going to be far too busy to talk to that downer," Sebastian snarked.

"Well then, have fun." Jesse headed off towards the parking lot, while Sebastian headed towards the food court.

Given that that was where the bathrooms were, Sebastian could excuse Cory for jumping to conclusions. "I've never done it in a public washroom before."

"And you won't be doing it with me," Sebastian replied definitively. "I have standards."

"Oh. Right. Of course." God, did this guy do anything else besides blush? "So, who's Kurt Hummel?"

Sebastian smiled; Cory had excellent timing on top of exceptional stamina. "Actually, that's him there."

Kurt was seated at a row of plastic bar stools, looking irritated by the decor but waiting patiently. As expected, Cory broke into a wide grin. "He's cute."

"I thought you might say that," Sebastian told him. "I need you to do something for me. Very subtly, or it won't work. And if you can pull it off, I've got a weekend with your name on it. Vocal Adrenaline's yacht in Ibiza."

"Holy shit," Cory gasped. "Who do I have to sell my soul to?"

"Him," Sebastian stated, with a gesture back at the food court. "I want you to seduce Kurt Hummel."

(to be continued)

Don't worry, this isn't real person slash. I'd already decided on Cory's name and a general Finn-ish quality about him before I made the connection. It's not like poor Cory is going be around long enough to get his trip to Ibiza, anyway.


	6. Krazy for Kurt

I've decided that this is going to be the final chapter of Hold Me Tight, given that the story pretty much climaxed in Chapter Three and I've been having the disturbing feeling that I've been writing the last fifteen minutes of Return of the King ever since then. I want to thank everyone again for all their kind reviews and hope that this last chapter makes for a fine finale.

One more thing, I hope the Niff in this chapter isn't out of place or out of nowhere. I briefly considered deleting it, but there's a cute section later where Blaine and Kurt discuss couple names that I just couldn't part with.

* * *

><p>Hold Me Tight<p>

Part Six – Krazy for Kurt

Blaine hurried into the mall, wishing for the umpteenth time that Kurt had a safer hobby. Like traffic controller-slash-bomb squad member. As much as he loved Kurt, he really didn't want to die underneath the boots of someone trying to score seventy per cent off on a blender.

Blaine was late. He hadn't been late when he GOT to the mall, nor when he finally gave up and parked on the street three blocks away. But the parking lot was jammed packed with prospective shoppers, to the point where the vehicles actually parked there would likely be unmovable until long after dark. It was a hellish preview of what was to come once he got inside. If he got inside, because as he weaved his way around shoppers on his way to the south entrance, it occurred to Blaine that he may have no shot at ever reaching Kurt today.

And that was before the sheer force of people slammed him into Jesse St. James.

Jesse irritatingly enough, seemed unphased by the crush of people around him. "Blaine Anderson, right? You didn't go to McKinley last year, but I remember you from your hanging all over Kurt."

Blaine frowned, uncertain as to why this guy was talking to him. "That's right. So what brings you to the mall on the least wonderful day of the year."

"Second least wonderful," Jesse corrected, with maximum patronization. "I'm coaching Vocal Adrenaline this year, and I'm escorting my newest pupil here to make sure he doesn't get into trouble. I think you know him, he used to go to Dalton Academy."

"Sebastian?" Jesse nodded, and Blaine felt a shiver of fear run through him. Followed by a surge of self annoyance that he was still letting that freshman prick get to him. "I don't KNOW Sebastian. And I'm NEVER going to."

Jesse raised his hands, playfully. "I'm not getting involved in this," he insisted. "I told him to leave Kurt alone, and now that he's run into an old trick, I don't doubt he will."

"Thank you," Blaine stated, with automatic courtesy. Blaine was on his way again when Jesse's voice stopped him just short of the door.

"Good thing Kurt's not the cheating type, huh?"

Blaine turned around, completely baffled. "What?"

"Haven't you noticed how much Kurt and Sebastian look alike?" Jesse asked. "In some other universe, a less scrupulous Kurt is probably banging that Cory guy in the bathroom. Not Sebastian."

Blaine rolled his eyes. "Thank you for your concern, Jesse," he sighed. "But I have enough to worry about in my own life without worrying about alternate realities."

"True enough. Which reminds me, good luck at Regionals. I'm looking forward to New Directions lasting long enough for me to mop the floor with you at Nationals."

Blaine headed into the mall, fuming and agreeing with Kurt: Jesse St. James really does St. Suck. Where did that guy get off casting suspicion on Kurt like that? And not even to be mean, like Sebastian. This was just polite conversation to him. Blaine had the nagging feeling that there was something else there. Something else that was getting to him, but he ignored the feeling. That's it, he thought. That's the only thing that's bothering him. Blaine certainly wasn't freaked out by the image of Kurt with someone else.

Even if that someone else was currently serenading Kurt in the food court.

Blaine sat next to where Kurt was primly bemused by this impromptu performance of 'Let Me Entertain You'. "Who the hell is that?" Blaine asked, eyes flashing with rage.

Kurt, who hadn't realized yet how jealous Blaine was, leaned in without looking at him. Just the way he would if he was whispering an aside during a competition. "His name's Cory, I think he's a friend of Sebastian's."

"Oh yeah," Blaine grumbled, all the more irritated by the fact that Kurt wasn't at all concerned by the situation at hand. "Jesse mentioned him outside."

"This is so much fun. It's like those old 'what would you do for a Klondike bar' commercials." Kurt turned to give his boyfriend a kiss, but froze when he saw how angry Blaine was. He offered up a shy, nervous smile. "Are you jealous? That's kind of sweet."

Blaine's annoyance abated a little at that grateful remark. Not to mention the fact that he hated seeing Kurt insecure. "I don't feel very sweet right now."

"I'm sorry," Kurt told him with embarrassed, downcast eyes. "I was just winding him up. But I guess it's not any more respectful of you, than Sebastian is of me."

Cory moved close to grind up against Kurt. Kurt's eyes widened, and Blaine realized just seconds after Kurt that Cory was fully aroused. Blaine was up on his feet instantly, tearing Cory off of his boyfriend. Cory didn't move from where Blaine had shoved him, clearly seeing the rage in Blaine's eyes.

At the last second, Blaine managed to swallow his rage and send Cory on his way with a "that was great. Well get back to you," rather than a punch to the face.

As soon as a suddenly terrified Cory had fled the food court, Kurt broke out into self-conscious giggles. "Oh my. That was... not what I was looking for today."

"You can admit you enjoyed it," Blaine grumbled. He seriously wasn't angry at Kurt, and he didn't want to make Kurt feel like he was stifled. "I don't mind."

"Oh no. Believe me, I've had better," Kurt teased. Blaine tried to calm himself, knowing it did his relationship with Kurt no good if he was doing a bad job of pretending he was okay. Kurt turned back to the retreating Lothario, with a bemused chuckle. "I wonder what Sebastian promised him to get him to do that? I didn't think you could just MAKE yourself upright like that."

Blaine turned to his boyfriend completely confused. Kurt didn't seriously think that was all an act, did he? "I don't think he was faking wanting to have sex with you, Kurt."

Kurt smiled, shaking his head as he wrapped Blaine in a tight embrace. "I know what this is all about," he declared. "You don't like what it says about you that the only people interested in me are crazies and closet cases. Don't worry about it. You're an aberration, and I love you for it."

It was all over. Kurt loved Blaine, and didn't want anyone else. Blaine should be happy.

But as Kurt lead Blaine back into the Boxing Day fray, Kurt's calm acceptance of his own unattractiveness made Blaine's heart hurt.

* * *

><p>"I know I should be grateful," Blaine sighed, as Nick and Jeff watched him, worried. He'd come to Dalton because he needed to talk about what had happened on Boxing Day, and he knew that his and Kurt's friends at McKinley wouldn't take his feelings seriously. Not because they didn't care, but because they knew Kurt well enough to know Kurt wouldn't cheat on Blaine (the Sam-in-a-motel incident not-withstanding), and wouldn't get that that wasn't the issue. "But I don't want Kurt to feel like he's with me because no one else would want him. On top of the fact that it breaks my heart to hear him talk like that, I don't feel all that attractive to hear we're together because Kurt settled."<p>

Nick and Jeff exchanged a thought-filled look. "Kurt didn't exactly settle though," Nick pointed out lightly. "He had to put up with A LOT to get you."

"So, so very much," Jeff agreed. That was just great; they were practically making fun of him. Apparently they didn't get him here, either.

"Thanks guys," Blaine replied with pique. "I knew I could count on you to make me feel a thousand times worse."

"Sorry, it's just-" Nick broke off uncomfortably, unable to decide how to finish his sentence.

"We didn't know Kurt felt like that," Jeff finished, sounding almost shamed now.

There was that look again, volumes going between the two Warblers. "What?" Blaine asked. "What aren't you telling me?"

They looked at each other again, before Jeff finally admitted, "We've been looking over last year's council minutes since the whole Sebastian incident. We hadn't really cared before that, but it turns out David wrote them, and they're hilarious."

"What does that have to do with Kurt?"

Nick bit his lip. "Now don't get pissed off but... You know how everyone knew you and Kurt were inevitable? Well, it turns out that when you didn't get together over the Christmas break, people started to get confused."

Blaine winced. "No doubt they got even worse after the Gap attack incident."

"Blaine, a lot of guys wanted to date Kurt," Jeff admitted, his cheeks a surprising pink. "But you know how everyone treats the Warblers. No one wanted to go against you, so they went to the council."

Blaine sat up straighter. He knew that he could be oblivious at times, but he'd never even guessed at that. "I didn't- I mean, it didn't ever occur to me why I wasn't seeing anyone going after Kurt." He felt a burning sensation in the pit of his stomach that he recognized from the mall as being jealousy. At least some of it. The rest he knew all too well as guilt.

"Nobody thought about it," Nick told him unhappily. "I'm sure they wouldn't have kept it a secret if they'd known it would make Kurt feel like this; Wes and Thad are going to feel so bad."

"David thought Kurt had the right to make his own choice," Jeff added, explaining without needing prodding why David wouldn't likewise be feeling bad. "But you know Thad, he didn't want you to feel like Kurt might be abandoning you. I've never seen a straight guy with that big a hard-on for another guy."

"I have." Nick gave Jeff a brief look, then averted his eyes. His own cheeks pink now.

Blaine sighed. "Guys, I'm really glad you're finally thinking about what everyone, including dense me, has known about for ages. But can you at least finish your story before you go bone each other senseless?"

Oh, now they were both blushing outright. "There's not much more to say," Nick told him. "There's a list in the minutes, and a notation saying that unless you outright told everyone you weren't interested in Kurt, that the guys were supposed to leave Kurt alone."

Blaine was stunned. "I can't believe this. How many guys are on this list?"

Nick and Jeff shared another look as they thought about it, but it was Jeff ultimately who answered the question. "Uh- Fifteen? Twenty? I didn't really count after me, and I was number six."

"You?" Nick exclaimed, surprised.

"I put my thumb over my name when we were reading the list," Jeff admitted. "You don't think I would have slept with Sebastian if he hadn't convinced me my Klaine shipping was because I was into Kurt? And that he was like an upgraded version of Kurt?"

Nick nodded as though they'd already discussed that but the conversation came to a full halt, with Jeff and Nick unable to look at each other or Blaine. Honestly, Blaine wasn't surprised. He'd known about the whole Neff, or Niff, or whatever thing for months now. And Sebastian was a master at manipulating people so Blaine couldn't blame Jeff. But no one was saying anything now, and Blaine finally had to prod them back to words. "I didn't know Kurt was even your type."

"Kurt's awesome," Jeff admitted. "You tell him he may not be my type, but that didn't stop me from wanting to go after him. He's that sexy. Way hotter than Sebastian."

"I don't know if that'll help," Nick teased. "He might just put you under the 'crazy' designation he gave that Cory guy." Nick's hand was now on Jeff's. Blaine let out a tense breath, relieved that this thing with Sebastian wasn't going to endanger anyone else he cared about.

"Maybe," Jeff replied with a shy smile.

Blaine stood up, suddenly awkward in his friends' presence. "I've got to get going. Can you send me that list when you get a second?"

"Sure. Sure." Neither of them saw him leave.

* * *

><p>At the same time as Blaine was visiting his friends at Dalton, Kurt was winding through the mostly unfamiliar corridors of Carmel High School. Looking for Sebastian.<p>

Kurt wasn't sure if there was anything to be gained by this, but he knew that it was time he had a serious conversation with his boyfriend's stalker. No more cute quips, no more pretending they could stand each other. Sebastian needed to have the fear of god instilled in him. And since Kurt didn't believe in god, fear of Kurt was going to have to do.

It was an indication of just how silly this whole situation was that Kurt found Sebastian in the Vocal Adrenaline choir room, alone except for the boy he was drilling into one of the couches.

"I hope that's scotch guarded," Kurt sighed (so much for no cute quips). The guy Sebastian was having sex with lifted his head, surprised. And of course, it was Cory.

Annoyingly, neither of the boys Kurt had just walked in on felt any embarrassment at all. Cory actually brightened and said, "Hey, great to see you. Sit down, join us."

"Thank you, no," Kurt replied dryly. "I won't be long."

"Neither will I," Sebastian quipped, going back to what he was doing. "So you'd better talk fast."

Kurt considered coming back another time. But he wanted this over, and there was no guarantee he wouldn't walk in on something even more awkward next time. So he decided to hold his ground. "Does it even register that Blaine likes you even less than I do?"

"He's just playing hard to get," Sebastian assured him.

"No, he actually has a twitch now when your name is mentioned," Kurt stated. "And not a good twitch. Believe me, I've seen all his good twitches and this isn't one of them."

"Well that's too bad," Cory noted, far too conversational given what he was doing. "Maybe we should all go out – the four of us – and work things out."

"I think things would be sufficiently worked out if Sebastian limited his attentions to the other hundred million gays in the world and left Blaine alone," Kurt replied. He found he had to look away then, but the sound didn't abate so it didn't really help. "Can you stop that for a minute?"

Sebastian just grinned, and started thrusting harder. "I think my giving up on Blaine should be his choice, not yours," Sebastian reminded.

And now Cory was making this irritating, happy whimper. Kurt looked Sebastian square in the eyes, hoping to minimize what else he was seeing. "He's made his choice," Kurt told him. "And he's made it abundantly clear. You just aren't listening."

"Fine," Sebastian unexpectedly capitulated. "His loss."

"Not from where I'm standing."

"I'm still going to crush you at Nationals," Sebastian growled, starting to lose his temper but still screwing Cory. The contrast was appalling, and Kurt was entranced by it.

"Vocal Adrenaline is an old horse," Kurt insisted. "You don't have a chance."

"You don't have a chance at holding onto Blaine once he gets a little more experience. And decides he wants more."

Kurt's eyes narrowed. "At this point, I'd let my ex-bully tutor us before you could."

"Frigid bitch."

"You smell like Craigslist."

"You don't smell like anything."

"Am I supposed to be ashamed of that?"

Without warning, Sebastian snatched a hold on Kurt's scarf and pulled him a lot closer that Kurt was comfortable with. Sebastian's eyes were blasted out with lust, and Kurt readied himself for a repeat of the Karofsky locker debacle. But Sebastian just purred in Kurt's face, "Fuck, are you as turned on as I am?"

Kurt's jaw dropped and he abandoned his scarf in Sebastian's hands. "NO. Dear GOD, no."

"You don't have to be a bitch about it," Sebastian sniffed, indignantly.

"For the record, I am," Cory announced. "Turned on by you two, I mean."

"SHUT UP!" the other two boys snapped.

Kurt pulled himself up to his full height (which was rather impressive when Finn wasn't around), and decided to extricate himself from the situation. "We're done now. You come near me and mine again and I will end you." He strolled out of room, out of the school, with only one look back: "You can keep the scarf. It loses some of it's appeal now that I've seen it on a whore."

* * *

><p>Kurt was shaking. He wasn't sure if he was ever going to stop. "Kurt, are you okay?" Blaine sounded like he was on the edge of starting to worry.<p>

Kurt nodded, although he wasn't sure if okay was what he was. He pushed his sweaty hair out of his eyes and tried to breathe normally again. "I'm going to have to be, aren't I? Neither one of us wants the conversation where you tell my dad you killed me with sex."

"Well, I didn't break your quick wit, that's a good sign." Blaine pulled Kurt into his arms (after a few adjustments) and inhaled the sweet scent of his glowing boyfriend. "I wouldn't be alive to have that conversation, though. For many different reasons, if I kill you I'll be committing ritual suicide right afterwards. Besides, we both know the embarrassing phone call we're going to eventually be making is the one where you have to admit you literally split me in half with your huge-"

Kurt found the energy to smack his lover in the face with a pillow. "My god," he laughed. "You are so uncouth in bed."

"Maybe. But you almost had a seizure just now. So I must be doing something right."

"Point taken." Kurt leaned over Blaine to check out his boyfriend's cell phone, which had once again beeped. "Jeff and Nick are both texting you now. I wonder what's up."

Blaine was midway through shrugging it off when his eyes lit up in concern. "Maybe I'd better call them. They were going to be sending me something, but with their luck they probably need gay sex advice and I'm just ignoring them."

Kurt leaned back onto the bed, allowing his boyfriend the mobility to reach the phone. "As long as they don't need a demonstration. I don't do requests." Then the full meaning of what Blaine had said impacted him, and Kurt sat up sharply. "Wait. Since when do Jeff and Nick together require a single piece of gay sex advice?" He knew, as all the Warblers had, that eventually Niff was going to happen. But he was unaware that it was this imminent.

"This afternoon," Blaine stated as he checked his phone. "I would have said something sooner, but even Neff finally happening isn't as high a priority as getting to be intimate with you."

"Niff," Kurt countered firmly. Despite the fact that he knew full well that Blaine wouldn't let it go.

Blaine grinned back at him. "Neff."

Kurt shook his head, bemused but refusing to back down. "I lost out on Klaine, I'm not giving in on this."

Blaine laughed. "No one's trying to suppress you with that. Kurt co-Blaine is just too dated a reference."

"You're too dated a reference," Kurt snarked. He blushed as soon as he'd said it. "Well, I'm certainly mature today." Kurt decided to blame it on the brain cells that had died today rather than watch Sebastian's live porn channel.

"Well, it's just the list they sent me," Blaine told him. "How about we have some ridiculously immature sex before we get into it?"

"You managed to get me interested once after the unpleasantness at Carmel, I wouldn't count on any more persuasiveness," Kurt insisted. "What list?"

"It's nothing." But then Blaine realized what he said and winced. "No, I shouldn't have said that. This is important, and I think we need to talk about it."

Kurt sighed, not liking where this was going. "Are we going to be talking about my supposed emotional problems again?"

"No. This is about this crazy idea you seem to have that you're not desirable."

"I don't get this," Kurt replied shortly. "Why is it so important to you that other people hit on me? Are you-" Kurt broke off, a thought coming to mind. "You aren't embarrassed to be with me, are you?" Although it made sense. Having a boyfriend that no one else wanted was bound to feel shameful.

"No!" Blaine yelped, startled. "Okay, yes. I hate the fact that you're only with me because you don't think anyone else would want you. But this isn't about that. I'm trying to be the bigger person here."

"What?" Kurt was less shocked when he walked in on Sebastian and Cory. "Blaine, I love you. Don't you dare think that I'd want to be anywhere else. Even if I had a million men chasing after me."

Blaine calmed again at that. "Well, it's not a million. But this is a list of guys the Warbler council said to back off until I pulled my head out of my butt." He handed over his phone and sat down, looking nervous despite himself. "See? It's not just me and the local nutcases."

Kurt couldn't help but be surprised as he scrolled through the list. Some of them were far too dull for his tastes, but the rest... "Well, if there hadn't ever been a you, I suppose some of these might have worked. But look here." Blaine leaned over and watched as Kurt deleted half the men on the list, either for the aforementioned dullness or because they'd tried and failed to make it onto the Warblers. "I could never date a guy I couldn't sing with." Kurt blushed hard as he came to the next name on the list. "And if I ever saw Jeff naked, I'd never be able to look him in the eye." Jeff Warbler's name went in the delete list, too.

"Trust me, you wouldn't want to," Blaine teased. "I was in the same gym class with him, remember? God, I hope Nick's a top."

"You're so considerate."

Blaine looked at Kurt, suddenly serious again. "I'm damn lucky. I see all the guys on that list, and I realize I could have lost you before I ever had you."

"No you wouldn't have," Kurt told him. "I won't deny this is very flattering. But I knew the second I saw you that you were the one. I might have considered dating one of these guys if in a moment of weakness I thought it might make you jealous. But I'd have never gone through with it."

Blaine kissed Kurt gently on the lips. It felt good, like a corner had been turned. "Well then, how about we strike a deal. You aren't too good for me. And I'm not too good for you. We're just us."

"That sounds just perfect," Kurt told him.

And after a line like that, was it any wonder Kurt couldn't say no to the idea of some ridiculously immature sex?

The End.


End file.
